London, April 27, GNA – The UK has, for the first time, frozen the assets of 22 individuals accused of corruption in South Africa, South Sudan, Russia and Latin America, under its new Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regime.
They have also been placed on a travel ban to stop them from “entering and channelling money through the UK,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday.
The sanctions regime was introduced to coincide with the UK leaving the European Union so as to give the government “unprecedented power to stop corrupt actors profiting from the UK economy and exploiting our citizens”.
On the list are Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta and their associate, Salim Essa, who, a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) statement said, “were at the heart of a long-running process of corruption in South Africa which caused significant damage to its economy”.
Sudanese businessman Ashraf Seed Ahmed Hussein Ali, commonly known as Al Cardinal, is on the list because of his involvement in the “misappropriation of significant amounts of state assets in one of the poorest countries in the world”.
“This diversion of resources in collusion with South Sudanese elites has contributed to ongoing instability and conflict,” the FCDO statement added.
Foreign Secretary Raab said: “Corruption has a corrosive effect as it slows development, drains the wealth of poorer nations and keeps their people trapped in poverty.
“The individuals we have sanctioned today have been involved in some of the most notorious corruption cases around the world.
“Global Britain is standing up for democracy, good governance and the rule of law.
“We are saying to those involved in serious corruption: we will not tolerate you or your dirty money in our country.”
Mr Raab added: “The measures are deliberately targeted, so the UK can impose sanctions on corrupt individuals and their enablers, rather than entire nations.
“They are being taken partly in tandem with the US, which is today also announcing further corruption sanctions.
“Acting together sends the clearest possible signal that corruption comes with a heavy price.”
The Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regime builds on the success of the Global Human Rights sanctions regime established in July 2020, which has resulted in the UK imposing sanctions on 78 individuals and entities involved in serious human rights violations, including from Myanmar, Belarus, China and Russia.
The UK government said it would continue to use a range of means to tackle serious corruption around the world, including funding the International Corruption Unit (ICU) in the National Crime Agency.
The ICU and its predecessors have restrained, confiscated or returned over £1.1 billion of stolen assets to developing countries since 2006, according to the FCDO.
Official figures show that over two per cent of global GDP is lost to corruption every year, and corruption increases the cost of doing business for individual companies by as much as 10 per cent.
GNA